Science is the formalization of our methods for acquiring knowledge, nothing more, nothing less...

[Humanist_Activist]

Modern science, as developed over the past 500 years or so, is simply a formalization of the rules for observation, experimentation, trial and error and using evidence, to reduce bias and increase accuracy in our theories.

One of the things that somewhat annoys me is the insertion of the word "scientific" into something to make it seem more authoritative, this is, in my view, rather foolish, and generally, especially in popular culture, wildly misused.

If you see a toddler with one of those mental development toys, such as trying to fit the right shaped blocks in the right shaped holes, and you observe them, what do you see? At first the child gets it wrong, they try to fit a square peg in a round hole, etc. But let them play long enough, and through trial and error, they will learn to fit the right shaped block in the right hole, and the toy may make a sound showing they are right, etc. And they retain and are able to repeat this play, this experiment, getting progressively better at identifying the shapes. Knowledge is gained, and its gained through an instinctual drive we have to try different things, and learn from them through trial and error.

In addition, we are a highly developed social species, and as such, we rely quite a bit on observation of our peers and are able to gauge their success and failure, and imitate that. And its not like either of these methods for acquiring knowledge are unique to humans, and indeed, even predates our species. Our most recent ancestral species made stone tools, was that intuition or instinct, or was it a building on those factors to allow for experimentation and improvement?

These are tools that were developed in us many millions of years ago, and indeed are far from unique to humans, other species have been observed to use these same methods, they even have technology themselves. the other Primates, certain species of Monkeys, Crows, Dolphins, and Elephants are but a few examples of species that develop tools and problem solving ability that, while its not close to equal what we have, can be termed as advanced at the very least.

These methods, these instincts, if you will, give species that have them an edge in flexibility that aids in survival for that species. Not only technologically, but being able to learn how to use traffic lights to crack nuts and retrieve the contents safely, in the case of crows, or unlocking cages for many of these species, most of the quite notorious in this regard.

But the key here isn't that these are instinctual, that's a necessary first step, but only a step, the most important thing is to use them to acquire knowledge, because they do not provide it on their own. Its like a calculator, a useless paperweight until you start pressing the buttons. That's what we have in common with all these species, we gain knowledge, retain it, and then pass it on to peers and offspring, so that they don't have to muddle through our errors quite as often.

I think this is key, the methods don't change, only the results, and with the formalization of these methods into the Scientific Method, our ability to point out the faults occurs much more quickly, and improvement in our theories and technologies has greatly accelerated our development. This is what sets us apart from the other species, they haven't formalized it, and most likely don't have the cognitive ability to do so. Science as a discipline, science as a method, hasn't changed much since being formalized, only the theories that resulted from this discipline have. As we increase our knowledge, we also increase our understanding about the world around us and about ourselves.

But, this recent discipline is again just a formalization of methods that we have used since our species wandered the Serengeti, and our pre-scientific attempts at understanding the world around us were hit and miss, and the methods were relegated to philosophy and inventors. Science brought them together, and combined with imagination and the curiosity, has allowed us to make great leaps forward in our understanding of the world, and in our technology. But all of this, in all the species listed, is still based on empirical, testable, evidence and observation. There are no other methodologies that we have ever claimed to have used that are nearly as reliable.

We did not gain the ability to use tools from on high, but from ourselves, and because these methods, these instincts are present in everyone, everyone has access to them. We still, to this day, have regular people make discoveries in scientific fields. While science is a discipline, its a discipline that anyone can learn, and everyone can access, the discoverer of Pluto was a farmboy, the discover of Relativity was a patent clerk, but following the discipline of science is what made them scientists. Whether formal or informal, scientists are scientists, and anyone can be one, as long as they agree to let others look at their work, to make sure its accurate.

Who knows? Maybe a grand unified theory will be cooked up by someone who is merely curious about the universe and self taught, stranger things have happened. But one thing I do know, its not going to come "other ways of knowing" whatever they are.